Capitalism Doesn’t Have An Agenda

Steve Forbes: “In free markets, you may want money, but you’re not going to get it unless you provide things, products, services that other people want. It’s a transaction.”

Before we begin this discussion, I want to point out that Leadership Leverage was created to increase the awareness of current leadership thinking and to share some of the best practices as a way to further the profession of leadership across the globe.

Having said that, the show doesn’t have a political agenda and for that matter neither does capitalism, does it?

Steve Forbes: Well, that’s right.

Capitalism – true free markets – is about succeeding by serving the needs and wants of other people and Hollywood always portrays capitalism as based on greed, but greed means taking something that doesn’t belong to you.

In free markets, you may want money, but you’re not going to get it unless you provide things, products, services that other people want. It’s a transaction.

If you go to a restaurant for example, your restaurant wants your money, you want the food, you get the food, the restaurant gets your money.

Each gets something out of a transaction.

Now, human nature being what it is, some transactions we don’t like to do.

Nobody gets any thrill out of paying the electricity bill or paying the rent or other things.

Not as much fun as shopping for a new pair of shoes or something, but you do get something in return. You get the juice and the electric company gets your money. …Continue Reading »

The following post is an excerpt from a recent Leadership Leverage radio show. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Today I’ll be exploring the topic of leadership from a unique perspective – how we as leaders can make a transition into retirement a successful one.

To help us navigate this very personal yet also public transition – a transition that for many leaders is the last one they will make – we’re joined by the distinguished professor, consultant and author Dr. Nancy K. Schlossberg.

Listen to the full audio version of this transcript or download the MP3:

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Dr. Schlossberg is an expert in the areas of adult transitions, retirement, career development, and inter-generational relationships.

She’s a past president of the National Career Development Association, Co-President of the Consulting Group Transition Works, and a Professor Emeritus of the Department of Counseling and Personnel Services at the College of Education at the University of Maryland.

In addition, she has written several books and has delivered well over 100 keynote speeches and made several national television appearances, including a PBS special on the subject of retirement.

Dr. Denker: And I’m delighted to have you here, too. Nancy, you’re often referred to as this expert in retirement, but more appropriately you should really be defined as an expert in transitions.

And so, can you explain the fundamental stages of a transition?

Dr. Schlossberg: Well, can I back up for a minute and explain how I am both, definitely in quotes, “an expert in transitions and an expert in retirement?”

During the time that I was a professor, I studied transitions; I studied how people were coping with change, and I developed a framework for understanding transitions.

Whether it’s a divorce, a geographical move, retirement, becoming a grandparent, losing a child, whatever the transition is, there is a way of looking at it, and a way of understanding it and sometimes I call my talks on it taking the mystery – if not the misery – out of change.

Why is it that as leaders we often know the right thing to do but have trouble implementing it?

How can we find our values’ voice and become a more effective leader?

What can companies do to better foster and reinforce value-based leadership?

To help us navigate this journey, our guest is the popular and distinguished Dr. Mary Gentile.

Currently Dr. Gentile is the director of Giving Voice to Values, a business curriculum launched by the Aspen Institute and Yale with ongoing support from Babson College.

Giving Voice to Values is a pioneering approach to values-driven leadership that has been featured in such magazines as the Financial Times, The Harvard Business Review, Strategy and Business, and in Business Week and is being piloted in over 100 business schools and organizations globally.

Dr. Gentile also recently released a book on the same topic: “Giving Voice To Values: How To Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right”.

Giving Voice To Values

Dr. Denker: Mary I’m curious to know how did you first participate in developing this notion of giving voice to values. What led you down this path?

Dr. Gentile: I’ve been working in the area of business, values and ethics – and the social impact of business – for several decades now.

But a number of years ago around the late 90’s, turn of the century, I experienced what I like to call a kind of crisis of faith.

I began to wonder if teaching ethics in business schools was ethical.

For me this grew out of the fact that we would [have] these long conversations with students, we would examine these challenging values conflicts in business, some global challenges and people would go back and forth about what the right thing to do was.

But in the end at some point students might say, “Mary this is all well and good but in the real world you can’t really act this way, you can’t really do these things. The pressures on you are so great that you won’t be able to behave in alignment with your values.”

That was an answer that I found truly troubling and I actually stepped back from the work a little while and started to reconsider what I was doing.

And the book and the curriculum I’ve developed around “Giving Voice to Values” is really my response to that. …Continue Reading »

The following post is an excerpt from a recent Leadership Leverage radio show. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Today we’ll be exploring the topic of leadership from a unique perspective – that is, we’ll be gaining an understanding of “mojo”.

In our discussion we’ll learn what mojo is, how to get it, how to keep it, and how to get our mojo back if we’ve lose it.To help us navigate this journey, our guest is Dr. Marshall Goldsmith – a distinguished educator, author, and one of the world’s most famous executive coaches.

Dr. Goldsmith is widely recognized as the world’s leading authority in helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting change in behavior for themselves, their people, and their team and was named last year by The London Times and Forbes, as one of the 15 most influential business thinkers in the world.

His books have sold over a million copies and have been translated into 30 languages and his articles, videos, and resources have been viewed by more than 4 million visitors from over 195 countries, and can be accessed on marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com.

Mastering Your Mojo

Dr. Denker: You know Marshall, I have to ask you because I’m curious.

You’ve edited or authored more than 30 books. Why do this book, on this topic, at this point in your career?

Dr. Goldsmith: Mojo focuses on intrapersonal.

The previous book was how to become a better leader, build better relationships with others and Mojo is looking inside yourself and saying: “how can I find happiness and meaning in my own life?”

By the way, nobody can define that for me but me. Nobody can define that for you but you. …Continue Reading »

The following post is part 2 of an excerpt from a recent Leadership Leverage radio show. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. Start with part 1 here.

Dr. Denker: I wanted to explore the topic of power – why some people have it and others don’t.

In our discussion today (read part 1 here) we’ll learn what power is, how to get it, and how to use it to bring about change to get things done, and how it can help you be a more effective leader.

To help us navigate this journey, we’ll be speaking with Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer, a distinguished and popular educator, author, and international consultant.

Dr. Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, and he’s the author, or co-author of 13 books.

Dr. Pfeffer’s latest book entitled “Power: Why some people have it and others don’t” is the focus of our dialogue today, and is a fascinating read as to the central message that intelligence, performance, and likeability alone are not the keys to career success.

Instead, self-promotion, building relationships, cultivating a reputation for control and authority, along with projecting a power demeanor, are vital drivers for promotion and success.

The following post is an excerpt from a recent Leadership Leverage radio show. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Dr. Denker: I wanted to explore the topic of power – why some people have it and others don’t.

In our discussion today we’ll learn what power is, how to get it, and how to use it to bring about change to get things done, and how it can help you be a more effective leader.

To help us navigate this journey, we’ll be speaking with Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer, a distinguished and popular educator, author, and international consultant.

Dr. Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, and he’s the author, or co-author of 13 books.

Dr. Pfeffer’s latest book entitled “Power: Why some people have it and others don’t” is the focus of our dialogue today, and is a fascinating read as to the central message that intelligence, performance, and likeability alone are not the keys to career success.

Instead, self-promotion, building relationships, cultivating a reputation for control and authority, along with projecting a power demeanor, are vital drivers for promotion and success. …Continue Reading »

Leadership resilience revolves around effectively dealing with work related problems, pressure and stress in a professional and positive manner.

All leaders at every level face stress, frustration, criticism or rejection from time to time.

In short, it comes with the job!

Nevertheless, being able to persevere when things do not go as planned, to remain positive under stressful circumstances, or to accept criticism from others and use it to make things better, are often what differentiates highly effective leaders from their peers.

In our executive coaching work with hundreds of leaders across most industry verticals, two domains emerge that are key distinguishing traits between being effective and ineffective in this foundational leadership competency.

Let’s look at each and provide specific actionable strategies on how you can be better within each one. …Continue Reading »

Dynamic and strategic leaders possess certain traits that allow them to be successful at leading others.

They also work hard to hone their craft and become better at what they do.

In a recent article we covered the 4 critical behaviors that strategic leaders usually possess that can predict how effective they will be in this area.

We now wanted to cover exactly HOW leaders of all stripes, can vastly improve their own strategic visioning.

From our experience coaching hundreds of leaders on how to develop a vision and a related long-term strategy, we have found there needs to be a combination of talent, timing, and innovative thinking.

Further, fostering a strategic vision requires laying the proper groundwork so that the vision and strategy are embraced by the key stakeholders/shareholders and therefore marshal support rather than create resistance.

What follows are five key steps that our most successful clients have utilized to create their own strategic vision while getting buy-in from the entire organization, business unit or function, in order to convey that vision in a form that leads to effective performance. …Continue Reading »

Today on Leadership Leverage we gain a deep understanding of how “endings” are a natural part of business and life and why endings aren’t failures, but necessary opportunities for creating something better. Whether it’s a career choice, a personal relationship or a business venture that isn’t working, it’s essential as an effective leader to know when and how to let go.